MUFF  , an

article of outdoor apparel, open at either end, for holding the hands in and keeping them warm, generally made of fur, but also of velvet, silk, &c . Muffs are now only used in England by women, but in the 17th and 18th centuries were fashionable for men . In Roman times the place of the glove was taken by long sleeves (manicae) reaching to the hand, and in winter special sleeves of fur were worn (cf . Cic . Phil. ii . 11, 26) . In Medieval Latin we find the word muffulae, defined by Du Cange (Gloss., s.v.) as chirothecae pellitae et hibernae . He quotes from a cartulary of the year 817, of the issuing to monks of sheep-skin coverings to be used during the winter . These may have been, as the Roman certainly were, separate coverings for each hand, although the cartulary cited also distinguishes the glove for summer from the muffulae for winter wear . The O . Fr. moufte meant a thick glove or mitten, and from this the Du. mot', Walloon mouffe, and thence Eng . " muff," are probably derived .

From the Fr. moufle have come the various uses, verbal and substantival, of " muffle," viz. to wrap

round for protection, for deadening sound &c., and for a chamber or receptacle in a furnace to protect objects from contact with fire while exposed to heat . The slang use of " muff " for a clumsy, awkward person is of late origin . It appears in the middle of the 19th century . 1 The contemptuous designation Muckern dates from this time .